Berry Global announced Tuesday it has opened a new innovation center in Tulsa, Oklahoma, focused on developing stretch films that “support a circular economy.”
The 12,000-square-foot Circular Innovation and Training Center will be used for product development and training, with an eye toward incubating “cutting-edge stretch film projects that help keep materials in use and out of the environment,” according to the news release.
“Now more than ever, the ability to access premium films with tailored performance and circularity benefits is crucial for our distributors, as they strive to meet the evolving sustainability demands of consumers and the market at large,” Phil Stolz, executive vice president and general manager for flexibles, said in the release. “This new center represents a significant investment in education, technology, and sustainability to help our customers unpack complexities and understand what’s possible for the flexible packaging market.”
The facility showcases a variety of pallet-wrapping machines and film evaluation equipment. It will house what Berry calls state-of-the-art film characterization and performance testing technology to measure stretch film properties and behaviors. For example, the film characterization capabilities will quickly analyze properties including weight, density, tensile strength and cling force, while the performance testing capabilities will assess field performance qualities including force-to-load ratio, film memory, load shifting and load failure.
The center will support development of new products that fall under the company’s Bmore Circular Solutions portfolio, which broadly aims for more sustainable products by improving recyclability, incorporating recycled content, incorporating alternative feedstocks or implementing reusable or refillable solutions. Specifically, the films developed at the center will incorporate recycled content and downgauged material, as “lighter weight stretch films require less raw materials and energy to produce, thereby reducing greenhouse gas emissions and plastic waste,” the release said.
Berry will also use the space to offer training courses to distributors and increase their knowledge of the company’s products and applications, including Stretch Film 101 and the Benefits of Berry’s Ultra and Premium Circular Films.
During Berry’s fiscal fourth quarter 2023 earnings call in November, new CEO Kevin Kwilinski described the importance of harnessing sustainability opportunities going forward, particularly as more sustainable packaging legislation emerges. Berry reported results for its fiscal first-quarter 2024 on Feb. 7, showing a net sales decline in flexibles, primarily attributed to a 3% volume dip due to softer demand in the European industrial markets.
